Another Chinese Cinderella Story
by LittlePeony
Summary: Musician and artist Yao Wang had always dreamed of a life of peace. But when royals come to China, he soon realizes the life he wanted can never compare to the life he was destined to have.
1. Bride to Be?

Yao Wang.

As an artist and musician, only a few people can hear that name and be able to decipher that man from the many men who bear that same name. Most people would just remember his face. With long, black silk that outline the side of his face and poured down from his head like a waterfall; porcelain-kissed skin which is smooth to the touch; soft-pink lips, sweeter than honey, it was quite hard to forget him. But the most beautiful thing that stood out the most was his voice. Although what he did for a living didn't need his voice much, anyone who was anyone could get him to sing. Nobles, and even the emperor, would hire him to play his erhu for them and would even pay him extra to hear his voice. But he was a man of a few words and doesn't want the fame the gossiping nobles would bring.

He loved the peace and quiet and lived slightly far from the nearby city and lived only with his younger sister. Unlike many siblings, he and his sister, Mei, got along. When his parents died many years ago, they left a five-year old Yao and an infant Mei to fend for themselves. Luckily, Yao watched his mother and how she does her daily chores and cooking so when his mother and father left, he was able to take care of Mei and himself for many years. Although he was upset that his parents passed on without a goodbye and ever hearing Mei say her first words, he hid his pain so he and his sister can live in peace. Now at age twenty-one, Yao and sixteen-year old Mei continued to live together for many years. Although they got along, there are some disagreements they had. Recently, Mei had begun to find out about the wonders of love and romance. While Yao has never even loved another person other than his family, especially his sister in his life, Mei was beginning to grow boy-crazy. Whenever she begin to like someone, she daydreams and sometimes even ignored her brother's warning of possible "incidents" where she could end up bearing a complete stranger's child. Of course if that ever happens, Yao would simply threaten the boy to leave until his sister stop liking him. So any "incident" that involves bearing a child won't ever happen with Yao around. But Mei still daydreams about "happily-ever-afters" even though she knew life doesn't always work that way. Other than that, Yao and Mei have never argued about anything else. But Mei would always let out a teasing complaint about how her big brother acts like a mother than a sibling but Yao would always smile and shake his head. Yes, so far in life, everything was fine….

"Biiiiiiggggg Brrrooootttthhhhheeeeeerrrr!" Mei's excited squeal rang through the empty house.

"Aiyah! Mei-Mei! What's wrong?! Were you attacked?! Robbed?! Raped?! Molested?!" Yao quickly rushed over to see if his little sister showed any sign of harassment.

"No Gege! Look at this flyer!" Mei shoved the parchment in Yao's hands and quickly began dancing across the room with joy.

Reading the paper, Yao's eyes widened with surprise. It read:

_To of the citizens of Beijing, your daughters, sisters, nieces, and/or cousins will have a chance of a lifetime! Two princes from distant lands, one from the North and one from the West, will come here to the capital city of China for the Qixi Festival in hopes of searching for a bride. Any women of any rank can come to this joyous event in hopes of marrying a royal and help strengthen ties between our neighbors. This will last until the princes have decided to marry a bride or the end of the month. Hopefully, both princes will have a Chinese girl as a wife. Every woman must meet in the heart of the city before the sun sets. Good luck to every girl in Beijing!_

While Mei pranced around happily, Yao could only stare at the paper. _Westerners coming to my homeland?! _he thought. He glared at the paper in front of him. Although he hasn't lived for very long, he knew how these Westerners treated his country. They invaded, took, and ripped apart his beloved nation. Although none of these foreigners personally wronged him, he felt as if every time they harmed his country, the pain somehow went directly to him.

"Gege! Can't you see?! I could be married to a prince! And meeting him at the Qixi Festival!" Mei sighed dreamily, "Just think about how romantic it would be…."

"Who said you were going?" Yao grumbled, crushing the paper he was holding into a pulp.

"Come on Gege! This could be our chance to live without worrying about food or poverty!" Mei held her brother's hand gently and looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

"No. I will not let you marry a…a…foreigner. They're all barbarians! I can't imagine what they could do to nice, pretty, innocent girl like you." Yao closed his eyes and sighed. "I can't lose you. You are the only family I have left…."

"….Gege…." Mei held her brother's hand tightly.

"Mei?"

"Gege…you worked so hard to support us…I want to repay you by letting us live better lives than this…even if I can't marry a prince, my husband and I will work hard to help you."

Yao looked down at his sister. He couldn't believe this was the same girl he raised for sixteen years. What happened to the happy-go-lucky girl he knew for his whole life? His sister had made this promise before, but he kept his ground and stuck to his answer. Now he felt guilty for smothering her.

"I…guess you could go to the festival…" Before Yao could tell her what she has to do at the festival, he felt the wind knocked out of him and gasped.

"Aaah~! Xie Xie Gege! I can't believe it! I'm going to the festival! What am I going to wear?! Aaah~ so many choices! Mei ran up to her room, debating on what she is going to wear to the festival leaving Yao to wonder if what he just did was even sane.


	2. Markets and Marriages

"…and we need to buy this hairpin!" Mei grabbed a butterfly hairpin and handed to Yao, who could barely hold it with the pink and white _hanfu _he had in both of his hands.

"Aiyah. But Mei-Mei, we already bought you a flower hairpin." Yao gestured to the plum blossom flower hairpin he was holding in one of his hands.

"But Gege…there are girls from all over the country coming to Beijing. And some of them have many pretty things. I can't show up looking shabby." And to coax her brother into buying her the hairpin, she put on her best puppy-dog eyes and batted her eyelashes. Normally, Yao would fall for her adorable look and give her want she wanted but since he was letting Mei go to the Qixi Festival, he drew the line at the hairpin.

"Alright… but if you want the hairpin, you can't go to the festival." Yao said mischievously.

"Gege, you're a jerk." Mei complained but she put the hairpin back anyway.

"Alright I think we have enou-"A loud drumbeat interrupted what Yao was going to say and loud, thundering hooves came into earshot. A man with a long, pointed beard and robes riding on a white horse came into view along with two other men.

"Gege! Look it's the courtier!" Mei tugged at Yao's sleeve.

The courtier stopped at the market center and began yelling about the visiting princes. While Yao was shifting the _hanfu_ onto his shoulder, Mei listened intently. Soon murmurs of surprise erupted as the courtier left.

"Gege! Did you hear what he said?!

"Hm?"Yao looked over at his sister.

"That man said that the princes coming over won't show themselves! No one will know who they are!" Mei looked around anxiously "How will I know who's the prince?!"

"Aiyah Mei-Mei. You'll be fine." Yao rolled his eyes. Honestly, Mei-Mei could be a pain sometimes!

"Gege! I need to buy more things!" Mei ran over to a stand and began picking out accessories for her outfit.

_**Few Hours Later….**_

Yao slumped onto his bed. Although Mei had been terribly unreasonable and wanted to buy almost everything at each stand she saw, he managed to convince her to only buy the _hanfu_ he was carrying, two plum blossom hairpins, and a jade ornament for her _hanfu._ Mei wanted new shoes, but Yao finally stamped his foot down and said she could wear her old shoes since no one would look at her feet which were hidden beneath the _hanfu. _Eventually, Mei was satisfied with the clothes and agreed to go home.

"_Maybe I shouldn't have spoiled her so much…" _Yao covered his face in his hands and sighed. He loved his sister but she was a handful at times. He couldn't help but chuckle and think about how his parents would react if they saw their daughter acting like this. But his amusement only lasted for a brief second. Yao knew he shouldn't cry but the ache of losing his parents was too hard to handle and it stuck to him for years. As he wiped the tears streaming down his cheeks, he began thinking of how his sister will do at the festival. Mei was strong girl, he knew since he taught her martial arts at a young age, but he couldn't help but worry about her choice of a husband.

_What if she chose a criminal and was taken away? What if she chose a rebel and ran away with him? _Yao threw a blanket over his head and fell asleep, worries and headaches lulling him to sleep.

_**At the Imperial Palace….**_

Prince Ivan sighed and leaned on one hand. Looking around in his room, he barely paid attention to the details of the room. "_It was too dark to see anything anyway" _he thought.

He shifted on the bed, trying to make himself comfortable but the bed was too hard and the fact his head ached from the journey from his kingdom in Russia didn't help at all. He and another prince, Leon of England, had come to China in search of bride so the countries can have stronger ties, but honestly, how could a marriage between two complete strangers help relations between their countries? It was all a waste of time. But he couldn't disobey his father, who was practically terrifying. Plus, this was his chance to avoid marrying his younger sister, Natalia. He was absolutely terrified of her since she always had an obsession over him said that they should marry. Luckily their father didn't like that idea and married her off to a prince in a neighboring land. But Ivan wished his father didn't like the idea of him marrying a foreign woman…or marrying at all. He didn't care for marriages or other things like that. It's not that he hated anything romantic, but he hated being told what to do and it involves when he should marry. In his opinion, he was too young to marry. At age eighteen, he should be hanging out with his friends, if he had any.

His father would always say that he shouldn't have friends since anyone of them would betray him at any chance they got. Although Ivan didn't believe his father, he never had luck making friends. Was it because of his rank? Is he intimidating? He had to admit, he was incredibly tall for a man his age but height really doesn't matter, right?

"V-Vanya? A-Are you okay" A familiar voice rang in Ivan's ears.

"Ah, Katyusha." Ivan sat up on his bed as his older sister walked up to him "What are you doing at this hour?"

"I-I thought you were ill because you wouldn't eat when the Emperor invited us to dinner." Katyusha clutched her hands with worry.

"Sister I'm fine, you don't need to worry over me. But I appreciate your concern. _Spasibo." _Ivan smiled at his sister. Although Katyusha was supposed to be with her husband now, she wanted to accompany her brother so he would have a safe journey into this strange land. He was grateful for that.

"W-Well, if you want anything my room is right next to yours."

"_Spasibo _sister." Ivan laid back onto his bed as the door closed shut and looked over to the sunflower he brought from his land.

Although it was odd for a man to adore a flower so lovingly, he couldn't help but smile when the little flower appeared in his eyes. It brought warmth to his cold home. He longed for a sunflower field and he knew he would someday have it. Ivan rolled over and smiled himself to sleep, dreaming of a sunflower field that made the sunshine dull.


	3. Your Majesty

Ivan could barely keep his eyes open. Emperor Wuzhou was telling them how they should act when talking to a young woman. Or what utensils to use when dining. Even King Arthur's II lectures were much more entertaining. He looked over from his uncomfortable seat on the floor to Leon who seemed equally bored. Though it was hard to tell. His ever-still face rarely changes but his eyes contrasts to his emotionless face. Ivan had notice one's eyes show more emotion than any other feature. And now those eyes dulled with boredom.

"And that's it! Any questions?" the emperor turned and faces the two princes. Both of them remained silent. None of them wanted to hear another lecture from him.

"Well, then I trust you to pick the prefect bride next week!" the emperor smiled proudly "China is full of beautiful women and Beijing is has the most beautiful of all beauties! You'll find a bride in no time!" Thinking that bore into their minds, he left the room, pride shining brighter than the sun.

"Are you going to find a bride?" Leon muttered stoically.

"Hmm…..no. I'm not interested in marriage. You?" Ivan responded, surprised that the other actually spoke

"Maybe….I would…but probably not." With that he left the room, leaving Ivan alone.

_I don't believe all of this "beauty" nonsense. I'll see these ladies myself. _Ivan promised himself.

With that, he walked back to his room to change.

_**At the Marketplace….**_

"Ah…excuse me….sorry…hey!" Yao could barely walk past anyone without getting his foot stepped on. Of course many people would be here. It took a long time for the city to be decorated with lanterns and firecrackers. Especially since they had guests, the royal family wanted the capital to look like where two immortal lovers would meet after a year's separation. So of course it had to look beautiful! But Yao wasn't here to help decorate the city or his house. He had to perform for the emperor and his guests. Although he wanted to stay home at this time of year, the emperor had offer a large payment for his performance.

But Yao wasn't upset because he had to leave the sanctuary of his home; it was because he has to sing for them! Although Yao loved to sing, he only sang for his little sister only her. Unlike Mei, these foreigners might tell other rulers from the West about his talent and he might end being taken from his home and working for them! No….no….no! Yao couldn't let that happen! What if when he leaves, Mei brings a boy home? What if the boy gets her pregnant and leaves her because of that?!

Immediately, Yao shook that thought away and tugged at his cloak hood. _I'll just sing quietly, they won't hear me and I'll let my voice drown in the music. _Yao promised himself and held on to his _erhu. _With new confidence rising up, he walked head high to the palace.

_Knock knock knock. _Yao couldn't help but grow impatient. Didn't the emperor tell him to be here at around sunset? Yao turned to look at the setting sun. Yes he was on time. Yao turned back and continued to knock. So why wasn't the gate opening? Just as Yao was about turn around and leave, the gate swung open.

"Who are you?" the guard who opened the gate bellowed.

Whispering his name to the guard, Yao asked him to escort him to where he was supposed to perform. The guard and Yao closed the gate and Yao was lead to the dining room. Although he had been at the palace before, Yao would always marvel and it's beauty. Red columns filled the main room and the ceiling lined with gold and paintings of Dao gods. And of course in the center of it all is the gold throne of the emperor.

Yao only had a brief second to see all of this before he was pushed into the dining room. The dining room wasn't as grand as the main room but it was fit for an emperor. Yao immediately sat the chair provided for him.

"The emperor will be here soon." the guard bowed and left the room. And Yao was alone.

He carefully set his _erhu _next to his seat and opened folded sheets of music. Of course he knew new how to play this songs by heart, he had a bit of trouble remembering some small parts. Although the music sounded good anyway, Yao strived for perfection. Mistakes bothered him and there's no exception. Mei has made fun of his proud, over-achiever attitude but he couldn't care less. This trait runs in the family, so he'll have the last laugh anyway…..

Carefully tuning his instrument, he kept an eye away from his task and focused on walls of the hallway, making sure that there wasn't a hint of moving shadows anywhere. Yao wanted to look professional and didn't want the foreigners to think all Chinese musicians were unprepared. And that included looking like an amateur only recently learning how to tune a small instrument. Finished with his task, Yao could barely relax when the emperor and his guests arrived. Standing up from his seat and setting his instrument down, Yao kowtowed down to the royals.

"Good evening Emperor Wuzhou." he said politely.

The emperor nodded in response. As Yao stood up, he bowed towards the foreigners and Wuzhou introduced his companions.

"As you know, these young men are from the West and sons of powerful rulers. This is Prince Leon of England." the emperor gestured to the teenager. When Yao took a good look at him, he gaped in surprise. This boy doesn't look like the "white ghosts" from the West. He looked… Chinese.

"Um…sorry for asking but… Prince Leon are you Chinese?" Yao felt uneasy asking a prince such a causal question but his curiosity took control.

"Yes." Leon said bluntly "I am from China but I was orphan and adopted by my father, King Arthur."

"Oh I was wondering you looked Chinese." Yao replied.

"Gee….haven't heard that one before." Leon rolled his eyes at the comment. Everything was silent again until Wuzhou cleared his throat and continued to the other young man.

"And this… is Prince Ivan of Russia." He gestured over towards the beige-haired man.

"Ni-hao Prince Yiwan….oh I'm so sorry! I'm not very good at pronouncing names aru!" Yao tried to hide his embarrassment from not only mispronunciation but also for throwing in his occasional "aru". It was an old habit of his and like they say, "old habits die hard".

"…Aru? What does that mean?" Ivan had ignored the odd, but cute, way Yao had said his name and focused on his strange accent.

"O-oh….it's just an old habit of mine. It slips occasionally." Yao managed to stop the "aru" from slipping out again by biting his tongue.

Ivan looked at the petite Chinese man. Eyeing him from head to toe, he found this "Yao" person very intriguing. With his small frame and politeness, he was much different than the men Russia. Although he had seen his people with black hair and brown eyes, it wasn't very often. It made Yao seem all more exotic. And his eyes weren't brown either. They glowed with an amber light and had a kind shine to them. And Yao's skin is pale as the snow in his home. But not like in an ill way. The smooth skin canvas shone in the moonlight that seeped through small, ancient cracks in the palace.

If all people in China were like this, maybe this marriage thing wouldn't be too bad.

"Um… is there something wrong?" Ivan snapped out of his thoughts when Yao spoke.

"Ah… no. I was thinking about how pretty you look!" Ivan smiled in amusement as Yao's eyes widen in shock. Not taking this lying down, Yao snapped at the prince's "compliment".

"Well I assure you I am a man!" realizing what he done, Yao bowed in apology "I'm sorry….I'll just go back to my seat…."

As Yao played his _erhu _the royals began their dinner. Piles of food arrived and kept them fed while Yao could only sit and watch them eat to their hearts' content. Yao envied them. While they probably never even worried about not having enough to eat, Yao and Mei would face the threat of starving. This was why he would always take any offer of extra money but only if it was enough to keep him and Mei fed.

Shaking his head and focusing back on his job, Yao started playing a song he memorized. The words buried in his heart and the song was all too similar….

_Xiǎo báicài ya, dì li huáng ya_

_Sān liǎng suì shàng ya méiliǎo niang ya_

_Gēnzhe diēdiē, hái hǎoguò ya_

_Jiù pà diēdiē qǔ hòu niáng ya_

_Qīn niang ya, qīn niang ya_

_Qǔle hòu niáng, sān nián bàn ya_

_Shēng gè dìdì bǐ wǒ qiáng ya_

_Dìdì chuān yī língluó duàn ya_

_Wǒ yào chuān yī cū bùyī ya_

_Dìdì chī miàn, wǒ hē tāng ya_

_Duān qǐ wǎn lái lèi wāngwāng ya_

_Qīn niang ya, qīn niang ya_

Barely concealing his tears, Yao stood to leave.

"Excuse me. I must leave now."

"Oh wait!" the emperor stood "I forgot your payment! Please stay and feel free to take some leftovers home!" Wuzhou left, leaving Yao and Ivan alone. Leon had left earlier so no one was around to break the awkward silence in the air.

As Yao began taking some leftovers, a weird feeling passed over him. Looking up, violet and amber clashed.

"Excuse me, is there something you need?" Finally breaking the silence, Yao continued to pack, hoping for the emperor come in and dismiss him….. No luck.

"You're interesting. I never met anyone who took one look at me and didn't shrink away…well my little sister is an exception."

"Well I'm not your subject or will I ever be. So I won't submit to you." Yao kept his head up high and didn't show any sign of intimidation.

"Aw…Yao-Yao is so mean~."

"Who said you can call me Yao-Yao?"

"I'm a prince I can do what~" Ivan's child-like demeanor annoyed Yao. _Doesn't he know this isn't going help him? _Yao ignored him and continued finishing taking the meal.

An odd sound echoed through the halls. Nervous, Yao looked around hoping it was just someone walking into the dining room. The sound got louder….and louder….and louder.

"Y-Yiwan….do you hear that?" Yao looked over at the prince, who didn't seem to be affected by the noise.

"Da."

Before Yao could start panicking, a woman came into the room. She had a bag with her and carried a letter in her hand.

"Little brother!" the woman ran towards Ivan and the sound came. Uncomfortably, Yao noticed to the source of the noise came from the woman's unusually large chest. Ignoring it, Yao unintentionally eavesdropped on their conservation.

"This letter is for you…it's from…" her widened as she leaned in and whispered the sender's name in Ivan's ear. A look of fear passed on both of their faces. Now who could be terrifying enough to wipe Ivan's childish smile off his face?

Eventually, the woman turned and gave Yao the bag. It was heavy with coins.

"Wuzhou wanted me to give you your payment since I was heading here anyway. You must be Yao. I look forward to hearing you play again. I heard your music from my room and you are very talented." the woman smiled kindly. She was nice and had a motherly aura around her, unlike her brother who seemed cruel.

Yao couldn't help but smile at the woman. He immediately liked her, she reminded him of his mother. Ivan cleared his throat and both turned to look at him.

"Katyusha, can you see if there was anything else for me?"

"B-But there wasn't an-"

"Now." Ivan's voice hid an annoyed tone.

"…A-Alright" Turning around, she smiled at Yao; "I hope to see you again." Then she left.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Yao turned and began scolding Ivan.

"You shouldn't treat your sister like that. She's a very nice lady and you shouldn't call her by her name." although he knew he shouldn't boss a prince around, Yao's big brother attitude took over his logic.

"Katyusha doesn't mind. She doesn't care."

"But still she may not always be with you." Yao always valued family and didn't like it when people took their families for granted.

"What are you talking about? She left her husband in Ukraine to help me. She's always there for me."

"That is why you should care for her more. I must leave now. Goodbye." Yao left with his chin up.

Holding on to his _erhu, _Yao hoped this is the last time he will ever see Ivan ever again….

**Author's Note: **The song Yao was singing is called "Little Cabbage". Basically it's about a girl who lost her mother. Here's the English translation(note that this isn't perfect):

_Little yellow cabbage_

_Lost mother at two or three_

_Dear Mother! Mother!_

_Peach flowers blooming,_

_Almond flowers falling,_

_Tears coming down,_

_Mother, how I miss you!_

_Dear Mother! Mother!_


	4. I'm Home

At home, a young woman was bustling in her kitchen. Mei dusted herself and looked pleased at the food she made. She had tried her best to make something good but Yao would never let her try to cook, thinking she might get burned in the process. Mei could do nothing but chuckle and imagine what her brother would say right now.

Mei was barely able finish dinner when she heard the door open. Without even turning around she greeted her brother with a cheerful tone. Hearing a mumble for a reply, Mei turned to make sure it was Yao that came in. Sure enough, the young man walked in, carrying food with him.

"Gege! If I knew you were bringing food, I wouldn't have made dinner!" Mei joked. But Yao didn't seem all too merry.

"You need to work more anyway! I always cook!" Yao grumbled.

"Because you never let me!"

Realizing her brother wasn't too happy today, Mei deciding to stop her teasing and ate dinner with Yao. An awkward silence filled the air.

"…This food is really good Mei." Yao was trying his best to apologize but he never got the hang of it.

"I forgive you brother." Mei knew her brother too well. Whether if he had a bad day or given a large payment she could tell. Tonight it was both.

"Can you tell me what happened at the palace?" Mei asked.

"…Well the emperor gave me a lot of money." With that Yao slammed the bag of coins onto the table. The tie on the bag came loose and some coins spilled out. Mei tried not to stare at the golden river pouring out from the sack. With this amount of money, affording food wouldn't be a problem this year. As Mei continued to stare, Yao tried to snap her out of her trance and had to summon all of his courage to tell her the next news.

"And…I met the princes." A squeal pierced the air. Immediately, Yao regretted his decision.

"Really?! Gege are they handsome? Smart? Do they have accents? You didn't tell me if they were cute or not!" Mei's descriptions of the princes were way different than Yao's opinion of them.

_Handsome? Cute? They're not too bad but he had seen better. Smart? How about cruel, rude, and blunt. Accents? They can't or even care enough to speak Chinese clearly. _Yao wished he could tell Mei how these foreigners really are, but it pained him terribly to see his sister so happy only dash her hopes so quickly. Yao answered her question in a heartbeat.

"Well they're definitely interesting." Yao could only watch his sister swoon as he hoped his answer didn't come out as an insult.

_**At the Imperial Palace….**_

Ivan stared up at his bedroom ceiling, clutching his letter in one hand. Although tonight wasn't chaotic, he exhausted, the letter being the cause. Rereading it, his eyes would always widen at the familiar handwriting.

_My dear sweet brother,_

_ I missed you so much since I married to that idiot Nikolai. He's not a very kind man, unlike you Ivan. I miss your warm hugs you used give me and Katyusha. But I knew you liked me more since she would creep you out._

_Obviously she forgot Katyusha is the nicer one. _Rolling his eyes at the sentence, Ivan continued reading.

_Father was really stupid for sending me to marry Nikolai. We never even liked each other. I'd rather marry you but Father finds that kind of relationship "disgusting" but we are already so close. But I heard he wants you to marry a Chinese woman to improved Russia's ties with China. But I won't let that happen. After all, no one is good enough for big brother. I'll come over to China soon and I'll write to you again when I'm going. It'll be __nice__ if you __write back!_

_With love,  
Natalia_

Ivan sighed and covered his face in his hands. Although he loved his little sister, that all she'll ever be to him. Not a wife. Not a lover. Not a girlfriend. Only a sister. But she had a different opinion. When they were little, Ivan would always be extra kind to Natalia since they both were always alone. But it was because she doesn't want friends. Or does she want anyone to be close to Ivan.

But back then, it was mutual sibling love between them. Natalia was protective of Ivan and Katyusha and vice versa. But since Ivan spoiled her, Natalia's love for Ivan slowly grew into to small puppy love to an obsession. One month into her obsession, Natalia was married of to a king in Belarus.

Although Ivan was sad to see Natalia leave, and Katyusha left earlier so no one was left besides his parents, he was glad he didn't have to deal with his crazy sister. Of course, it was a bittersweet win.

Wiping the memory from his head, Ivan continued to look up. Not that there was anything to see. At this time, Ivan would be outside sitting on the grass when it didn't snow and stared at the shining stars. The stars in the sky were something he treasured besides the sunflowers he grew. But apparently, objects weren't enough, his father had told him once. He needed something else. An actual person.

But Ivan didn't even have someone he likes besides his sisters. He found the emperor too optimistic. Leon is too emotionless. Then there was Yao.

To his shock, Ivan didn't really have anything to say about him. Yao wasn't like all the others. When they met, Yao had managed to surprise Ivan with his sudden change of attitude. At first Yao acted kind and respect to him but changed his tone once Ivan called him pretty.

Ivan chuckled as remembered every bit of Yao's small outburst. Even the way he said his name was funny. _Yiwan…cute. _Soon the memory of Katyusha and Yao having such a quick liking to each other flooded in. A weird feeling fluttered in Ivan's chest. Jealously.

How could Katyusha make friends so easily and yet he could not? Maybe if he and Yao hadn't had such a rocky start they could've been friends….


End file.
